Sound box



J. H. WEBER. JSOUND BOX.

APPLICATION FILED mac. 8. i920.

1,409,503. Patented M5114, 1922..

JACOB rrjwnnsn, or naooxrvnnnw YORK:

' soUND Box. I

Application filed December 8,1920; Seria1-'Noll429,061.

To all whom itm-ag concern: a

Be it known-that I, Jnoonll. Wrens, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brooklyn, in thecounty of Kings and state of New York, have invented certain'new and useful Improvementsiin,Sound "Bones, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description; This invention relates to sound boxes'and particularly to stylus bar, mountings having.

knife edge bearings. I have found that the oscillations of the stylusbar'upon the knife edge bearings-will in a short time wea'r 'ofi the sharp edgesleaving blunt'bearing surfaces which do not provide the same freedom of movement as the .knife'edges and the reproduction or recordat-ion asja result is faulty and unsatisfactory. The wearing off of the knife edges permits a movement of the stylus bar toward the center of the casing which either buckles the diaphragm or shifts it in its plane :to displace the point of at-' tachment between the barand the diaphragm eccentrically ofthe soundwave outlet of the casing. The effect upon the sound;emit--. ted by the box in either-case is very unsatisfactory and displeasing. lfrth'e bearing edges are sharpened a number of, times-the displacement of the stylus bar is increased and the faulty and unsatisfactoryeffect upon the sound waves amplified, so that after a few ,sharpenings the box must be discarded or some correction provided. Where the knife edges are integral with the casing, the

ing readily renewable bearingswhich can be of various desired materials, or of various degrees of hardness, and in which the bear ings are secured to the casing or stylus bar in a manner to eliminate danger of loosening; or chattering, in the use of the box, of any of the elements of the mounting. A further object is to provide a mounting of this type and for this purpose which is simple and *s cmeauba of Letterslatent. tent Ma 14, 1 922,

incxpensiveand in which thebearings can i bereplaced ataveryi'low cost andbyiu- I PXPEIIQlICGCljpQ-TSOIIS. .:Other'ob ects and advantages will be apparent-from the? follow ng description and the novel features of the invention will I be; particularly fpointed out inth'eclaim. v

:In earryin'g my invention into practice, I

provide eitherthecasi'ng or. the stylus bar w th. a slot or socket in whlch isdisposed a Springs uponthe casing press the; stylus-bar,

toward the casing with the bearing element between and form the sole means for preventing-them separation. and for holding the removableand rreplaceable bearing element.

bearing elementinits slot or,socket., -v'lhe bearing element isppreferably a bar or strip with spaced knife edges -,or =.points thereon which -provi de-the bearing points; or lines. By the release of the-stylus bar v froin the springs. the bearing bar, can be removed, a new on'ecan be inserted in theslot or socket, and the springs made effective, again .to hold the bearing bar within itsxslot. 5

y In the accompanying drawing:

- Fig-. lis a front elevation of a soundbox constructedgin ona Fig. 2is a bottom;pl an ofthe same.

\Fig, 3 is a'sideelevation of the same.

accordancev with my inven Fig. is a bottom plan of the same withv i ty usib r a d-secu ing p s emov d; and o e Fig. 5 is a perspective of the removable bearing element. 7 r r In the illustrated embodiment the casing l is provided with a flat surface 2 upon one portion of its periphery. Extending inwardly from this surface in a direction parallel to the diaphragm is a slot 3 in which is removably disposed a blade-like bearing element 4t having upon its outer edge a pair of spaced knife edges 45 or points which act as bearings for the stylus bar 5. The stylus bar has afiat surface with a slight depres sion, which abuts against theknife edges or points," the stylus bar being held against the same with the knife edges in the depressions by flat spring strips 7 which are-secured at one end by screws 8 to lugs 9 of the casing and bear at their free ends upon the stylus bar to hold it yieldingly against the bearing edges. The lugs 9 are disposed on the casv ing upon opposite sides of the-knife edges, and each'of the springstrips extends across the bar and bears upon the" side of the bar furthest from its lug, so as to have a maximum resiliency. The spring strips by bearing upon the stylus bar on opposite sides of the line of contact of the knife edges with the stylus bar tend to return the stylus bar to a normal central position when displaced therefrom in rocking upon the knife edges. Pads 10 of rubber, felt or similar sound insulating material are interposed between the free ends of the spring strips and the stylus bar so as to prevent the transmission of needle vibrations from the stylus bar through the spring strips directly to the casing. Such vibrations may be caused for example by roughness in the surfaces of the record grooves and if permittedto pass directly to the casing and set the latter in vibration they cause the addition to the sound waves set up by the diaphragm of a very displeasing sound. The pressure of the spring upon the stylus bar holds the latter yieldingly against the knife edges thus forming the sole attaching or securing means between them, and also holds the bearing element carrying the knife edges within its slot. The spring strips therefore have a triple function, viz: 1) securing the stylus bar operably to the casing; (2) holding the bearing element or bar 4 within its socket and (3) exerting rotative forces upon the stylus bar tending to return the same to a normal position when displaced therefrom-by a rocking movement upon the knifeedges.

The bearing elements 4: can be made at a very low cost by stamping or they can be formed of mineral or very hard substances such as quartz, glass, etc. If made by steel they can be case hardened or tempered.

The edges 4 wear muchlonger before hecomingdull when made of hard substances or when they are hardened, and all that is my signature.

necessary to replace the bearing edges is to loosen the spring strips, slide the bearing bar 4; endwise outof the slot and replace another new bearing bar or element in the reverse manner, after which the spring strips can be tightened by screwing down the screws 8. In this manner it is not necessary to discard the whole box, since it can be rapidly and easily repaired at a very low cost by inexperienced persons. The stylus bar is not secured in position by any screws which will be likely to become loosened by the vibrations of the bar or box with a resultant impairment of the sound emitted, by the box. I have also found that a sound box constructed in accordance with'my invention reproduces sound waves from a record with exceptional detail, color and clearness but I am unable to account theoretically for this effect.

It will be understood that the embodiment herein described and illustrated is for the purpose of illustration of the principle of the'invention only, and that various changes in the details and arrangement of the parts may be made within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

In a sound box, the combination of a casing having a slot therein, a bearing bar removably disposed in the slot and having spaced sharp bearing surfaces extending therefrom and away I from the casing, a

stylus bar, springs carried by the casing and having bearing contact upon the stylus bar to press it against the bearing surfaces of the removable bar and hold the latter within its slot.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe JACOB WEBER. 

